


Harsh Winter

by LineTheWalls



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-05
Updated: 2015-04-24
Packaged: 2018-02-28 05:32:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2720573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LineTheWalls/pseuds/LineTheWalls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s been years since Jamie last saw Jack Frost, and Jamie doesn’t know the reason why. Jack saw something that scared him when Jamie’s dreams took form with Sandy’s powers, and Jack was driven away. Now, Jack and Jamie see each other for the first time in nearly four years, and neither knows what the other will say.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Snow Warning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack has hidden himself for awhile, and Jack might finally see him again.

“Mmm… Jack,” Jamie moans in his sleep, his blanket swished to the foot of his bed. A slight breeze carries in a snowflake through the cracked window. The snowflake dances around his bedroom and makes its way to the ceiling. When it hits the ceiling a wave of cold air spreads through the room, and snow begins to fall within the room. 

As snowflakes fall onto Jamie, he slowly wakes up, chilled by the snowfall hitting his bare chest. He rolls over and looks at his clock: ‘7:00 a.m.’. “Thanks, Jack,” he mutters as he flicks the switch on the top of his clock to shut of his alarm that was set for 8 o’clock. The floor is cold as Jamie swings himself to get up. As he leaves the room to use the bathroom and get ready, the snow still falls.

By the time Jamie returns, the snow is gone, but his floor is a chilled puddle. As he changes out of his pajama pants, he is careful not to let his clothes touch the water. He grabs a pair of socks from his closet and heads downstairs after sliding them on. 

In the kitchen are Sophie and their mom. Sophie is sitting at the table and he goes in and sits next to her. “Have you seen Jack lately,” he asks, careful of his mom not to hear. She is just beyond the other sit of the table, standing at the oven, scrapping scrambled eggs onto two plates.

“Not since the last time you asked,” she whispered back. The sound of grease sizzling in a pan comes from the direction of the stove. 

“Someone’s up early,” their mother says over her shoulder. 

Jamie just grunted and frowned, his sister had seen Jack about a month ago. She said he was just sitting in the park, in a tree then. The sound of the sizzling grease slowly gets louder.

“What’s with that face,” Sophie asks.

“I haven’t seen him in four years, yet he still decides to make it snow in my room at least once a week. But you saw him last month.” Their mother takes her spatula and flips a couple of pieces of bacon onto each plate and turns off the stove.

“What’s your point?” 

“What are you two whispering about,” their mom asks as she joins them at the table, setting down a plate for her and Sophie. “Sorry, I’m not used to you being up when I make breakfast before Soph goes to school.” 

“It’s fine, I’m not very hungry anyway.” All of a sudden a pop comes from where their mother had been standing. Two pieces of toast had just finished in the toaster. She gets back up and gets the toast, putting a slice onto her and Sophie’s plates.

“We were whispering about your Christmas present,” Sophie said bluntly as she stabbed a piece of scrambled egg, her fork making a high-pitched squeak as it hit the plate. Jamie gave her a glare of uneasiness.

“You know the two of you don’t have to get me anything.”

“We know, but you deserve it.” Sophie just smiled at their mother as she chewed the bite of egg.

Maybe Jack will be at the lake, Jamie wonders, that was where he used to see him all the time. He hoped Jack was there.

“We’ll continue this talk later,” Jamie says to Sophie as he rises from the table. He jogs up the stairs to his room and grabs his ice skates from the closet. 

Running back down the stairs he hears his mother say to Sophie, “Like I said, you two don’t have to get me anything.”

“We know that, Mom,” Jamie calls into the kitchen as he heads to the front door. 

“Where are you going,” she asks as Jamie puts on his shoes that were sitting behind the door, “you don’t have class until nine.”

“I know, but I’m going to go skating. I haven’t been in a while.” Jamie finishes putting on his shoes, wraps himself tightly in a jacket and scarf, and heads out the door. Before closing the door behind him, he shouts a swift goodbye to his family.

It’s a short walk from Jamie’s house to the lake where, eleven years ago, he witnessed Jack Frost become a Guardian. The cold November air strikes Jamie with several bursts throughout the walk, making his nose and ears turn red. 

As he approaches the lake, memories flood back, just as they do every time he is there. Memories of the last time he saw Jack, four years ago. Memories of losing the friends he had back then. Most of them have moved on, stopped believing, but Jamie, he will never stop believing, especially in Jack.


	2. Snowfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Jamie encounter each other for the first time in several years.

Jack sits high above the lake, where eleven years ago he had been granted Guardianship, in a tree. He shifts his weight, with his staff in hand, as he hears footsteps approach. His heart races. Jamie. He sees the brown-headed young man walking down the path to the lake. Snow crunches under his sneakers as he walks. Jack can’t tell the expression on Jamie’s face, it seems both happy and angry. 

When Jamie reaches the lake, he slides off his shoes and struggles to put on his skates before his socked feet become too cold. While Jamie is fumbling his way into his skates, Jack shoots a blast of ice from his staff at the lake, making sure it is solid enough for Jamie so he doesn’t fall through; like he did 311 years ago. 

Jamie manages to get his skates on and put one foot on the ice, reaching for balance. This is the hardest part for him, getting onto the ice. As he shifts his weight to put his other foot onto the ice, he slips, landing straight on his tailbone. Jack tries to hold in his laughter as Jamie mutters to himself, “Well, that’s going to leave a bruise.” 

He pushes himself back up, this time, since he is already on the ice, he has no trouble finding his balance. He moves slowly at first until he gets the speed he likes to go at. Jack watches with intensity, he has always enjoyed watching Jamie skate. He skates with a certain grace about him that intrigues Jack. 

As Jack watches, he doesn’t realize that he is slowly leaning further and further forward. Jamie makes a figure eight across the length of the lake, and just as he begins to go in circles again, Jack leans just a little too far. 

A shout and a thud scares Jamie from his tranquility of skating. As he looks to see where the shout came from he loses his balance and falls onto the ice again. He hoists himself up, just as Jack lifts himself from the ground. Jack was across the lake from Jamie, and now, Jamie had seen him. 

Jack was planning to surprise Jamie, but not the way he did, and Jamie doesn’t look pleased as he notices Jack brushing snow off of his hoodie. Jamie skates over to Jack at a speed he didn’t even know he could move at in skates. 

Jack becomes terrified as Jamie gets closer, Jamie’s face going red. Jack hadn’t realized how big Jamie is now, he intimidates Jack. 

When Jamie stops moving, he is inches from Jack. His emotions are mixed up, and he doesn’t know what to say. He is happy to see Jack for the first time in four years, but why did it take four years before Jack revealed himself again?

“Why…”

“Jamie, I...”

They both start to talk simultaneously, but stop when they hear the other start. Jack motions to Jamie, implying for him to go first. 

“Jack, why has it been four years?”

“Has it been that short of time? It feels as though it’s been a decade since we last spoke.” 

“Jack, please, answer me. Why the hell did you disappear for four years?” Jamie was feeling his anger take over his happiness. 

“Jamie, I… I don’t know how to explain it to you. I was so terrified of you growing up and forgetting about me, so I thought I would make it easier on myself.” Jack has to lie, Jamie can’t know why he really disappeared. 

“So you thought that disappearing at a time when I did believe in you would help that? Jack, I was your first believer, do you honestly think I could stop believing in you? I remember that night like it was yesterday. You helping me to believe in Bunny, and then making it snow in my room. There’s absolutely no way I could forget that, Jack.”

Jack stands in awe, he isn’t sure how to respond to Jamie. He has to make up more of a lie than he already has. “I was scared okay? Scared of you forgetting, I didn’t realize that night was so important to you.” In reality he does know how important that night was to Jamie, because it was just as important to him. Jamie became his first believer that night. 

All of a sudden a noise comes from Jamie’s pocket. He reaches into it and pulls out a cell phone. It is ringing from an alarm he had set the night before. “I have to get to school, Jack.” Jamie, shuts off the alarm and goes back over to his shoes. 

“Let me take you, you could be there in seconds,” Jack says. He wanted time with Jamie, he wanted to talk to him. 

“Jack, not right now, please? I need to think, about what I need to say to you. We’ll talk another time.” Jamie pulls off his skates, and quickly replaces them with his sneakers. 

“Okay, Jamie. I’ll come-“

“No, I’ll come to you, Jack. Please, just be patient, okay,” Jamie says, an agitated tone to his voice. 

Jamie’s words sting when they hit Jack’s ears. “Okay,” Jack responds. He can feel tears welling up, but he isn’t sure why. 

Jack watches as Jamie leaves, his skates slung over his shoulder. Once he is out of sight, Jack hits the tree he had fell from with his fist. Why does Jamie make him feel like this? Does he have feelings for Jamie as well? 

“Does he still feel the same way,” was the question Jack had trouble answering himself. Jamie had too many mixed emotions to tell for sure.


	3. Cold Feet

It has been nearly a month since Jack and Jamie had their confrontation on the lake, and Jack can’t bear it anymore. Jamie was the one avoiding him now, and Jack now understands why Jamie was so frustrated with him. Jack has been placing himself in plain sight of Jamie, in hopes of Jamie approaching him. Jack has prepared what he wants to say to Jamie, and it’s time he told him, whether or not Jamie wants to see him. 

Jack finishes bringing snow to other countries and flies up with a, “Wind, take me home!” A large gust of wind hits him and he rides it back to Burgess. As Jack flies to Jamie’s house, he recognizes his car on the road. He must be heading home from class. Jack flies down lower, flying mere inches above the car. He continues this until Jamie arrives at home, then Jack immediately flies to Jamie’s bedroom window. 

Jamie shuts off the car and unbuckles his seatbelt. As he gets out a cold blast of wind hits him; it had gotten colder in the ten minute drive from the college. Jamie leaves his bag in the car, it only had a few books, and he has nothing inside it that would get damaged from the cold. Though Jamie loves the snow, he has grown to hate winter. The cold weather just makes him feel lonely. 

He shuffles his key ring so he can unlock the door, and as he opens the door he is greeted with the empty house. Empty like most days; his mom at work and Sophie at school. As Jamie shuts the door and shucks off his shoes and heavy jacket. A light coat still hangs on him, he usually wore the coat around the house. 

Jamie headed for the fridge, he checked the clock on the stove before he dove head first in to find food. 12:38, still a few hours before Sophie is home. He opens the fridge and finds leftover homemade pizza; spinach and tomatoes, his favorite. Taking a slice of pizza, Jamie shuts the refrigerator door with his foot. He takes a bite of the pizza, and it sends a chill down his spine, but he doesn’t want to heat the pizza, he’s hungry now. 

Jack can hear Jamie ascend the stairs to his bedroom, from outside his window. He sees a brief glimpse of Jamie before he slinks out of sight. “One… Two… Three…,” Jack begins counting, he is giving Jamie five minutes before he announces himself. 

Jamie goes over to his desk where a laptop sits shut, the slice of pizza hanging from his teeth. He opens the laptop and slides a set of headphones over his ears as he sits in the chair. Several gentle keystrokes unlock the computer, and just a few clicks makes music blare through the headphones.

“200…”

Jamie opens up an internet browser, and searches for books to read. He manages to find one, and clicks the link. 

“250…”

He reads a few pages, and finishes his pizza, before a snowflake floats in front of his face. He instantly closes his laptop in frustration and takes off his headphones. “Jack, was that necessary,” Jamie asks, turning to the window. Jack is inside his room, before him, leaning against the windowsill. 

“Considering how hard it’s been to get your attention the past month? Yes.”

“I told you I would come to you.”

“I got tired of waiting,” Jack shrugs. 

“Jack, I still don’t know what to say to you. I’m still furious as hell at you, but also glad that you finally approached me last month.”

“You don’t have to say anything, Jamie. I came here to say what I need to. And then, if you’re still mad at me, I’ll leave.”

Jamie is unsure. What does Jack have to say? “I’m listening.”

“Do you remember about four years ago? You had a dream about… about me… and you.”

“Yes, but how did yo-“

“I was outside your window that night, checking up on you,” Jamie glares at Jack. “Don’t give me that look, I did it every once and awhile to make sure you weren’t having nightmares again.”

“Sure, Jack.”

“Seriously! But if you remember correctly, I disappeared from your life a few days after that.”

“I do remember correctly, but I don’t understand why you disappeared, it was a dream, it was completely inno-.”

“Not innocent,” Jack smirks. 

Jamie pulled the dream back to the front of his brain. Pieces of it are missing from his memory, but he remembers enough of it to realize that Jack was right. “I still don’t understand why you left, though.”

“I left, because I was unsure… unsure about how I felt about you having this dream of us. Being immortal, to an extent, I never thought about those things before. I was always alone.”

“And why did it take so long for you to reappear?”

“I still wasn’t sure, I’m still not one hundred percent sure. I just know that after I disappeared, I was even more alone.”

“How can you be more alone than being alone,” Jamie questions. He shifts, and Jack sets his staff leaning against the windowsill. 

“Because before I became a guardian, I was alone, always worked alone, never interacted with humans much, just tried to have fun with them. Then, after I became a guardian, I spent time with you.” Jack pushes himself completely upright and walks around Jamie’s room. “Then I disappeared, from everyone. I barely even contacted the other guardians after that day, I just went around the world and did my job. And watched you. Through all of that, I felt even more alone.”

“Why didn’t you come back if you felt so alone, Jack? We could have talked about that night, like we are now.” 

“I told you, I was unsure of how I felt. I wanted to know what my feelings about the dream were.”

“It was my dream, Jack. Yes, you should have an opinion about it, since you were involved, but had you not been outside my window that night, you never would have known about it.”

“And I would have never disappeared.”

Jamie nods. “But none of that matters now, Jack, what I want to know,” Jamie rises from his chair and puts his face inches from Jack’s, “is how you feel now.” 

Jack’s heart races. Jamie was taller than him, at least two inches taller, he could tell at this short distance. Jack knows what he wants to do, but is still unsure. He takes a chance on his feelings and slides a hand behind Jamie’s head, to pull it down, and presses his lips against Jamie’s.

Jamie pulls back and chuckles, “Good answer.” Jack’s lips were colder than he anticipated, but the chill was well worth it. Jamie wraps a hand around Jack’s neck and pulls him back in. Jamie holds Jack in longer this time, and Jack smiles through his kiss. 

Jamie backs away again to take a breath, but as he does a cloud of his breath puffs into Jack’s face. “Sorry,” Jack laughs as he sits on the foot of Jamie’s bed. 

Jamie shrugs, “I kinda liked it.” He leans down and pushes abruptly on Jack’s chest, forcing him to lay back.


End file.
